A monitor configuration system which communicates with a physiological sensor, the monitor configuration system including one or more processors and an instrument manager module running on the one or more processors. At least one of the one or more processors communicates with the sensor and calculates at least one physiological parameters responsive to the sensor. The instrument manager controls the calculation, display and/or alarms based upon the physiological parameters. A configuration indicator identifies the configuration profile. In one aspect of the invention, the physiological sensor is a optical sensor that includes at least one light emitting diode and at least one detector.
